Austin Barth has spent most of his career with his hands on his knees. This year, the Montana State senior tight end has his hand almost exclusively in the dirt.
The towering Columbia Falls product came to Montana State as a highly touted quarterback who doubled as an all-state linebacker in high school. During his redshirt year in 2012, the 6-foot-6 former all-state basketball player simulated the tallest member of MSU’s weekly opponent on the scout team, first prompting the idea of moving him to tight end. By his redshirt sophomore year, he was in the rotation behind first-team All-Big Sky Conference tight end Tiai Salanoa. Last year, Barth again backed up the best tight end in the Big Sky. Beau Sandland made the most of his only season at MSU, scoring nine touchdowns en route to getting selected by the Carolina Panthers in last spring’s NFL Draft.
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In former offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey’s offense, the tight end moved around prevalently. When the Bobcats used Barth with either Sandland or Salanoa, Barth would line up in the wing position off the line of scrimmage, typically in a two-point power stance ready to go in motion before the ball was snapped. Now that Barth is the No. 1 option at tight end and Courtney Messingham is the offensive coordinator in MSU’s more conventional offense, Barth has returned to the traditional in-line placement of the position.
“We did a lot more moving around last year, and now we have our hand in the dirt most of the time,” Barth said following Montana State’s final practice of fall camp. “That’s new for me. I was in the wing the entire time the last two years.”
Regardless of the alignment Barth and his fellow tight ends are put in, the group has giant shoes to fill. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Sandland, a former transfer from Miami, is the rarest of physical specimens when it comes to FCS football. From his enormous hands to his long, smooth stride to his power at the point of contact with opposing defenders, Sandland’s physical dominance was breathtaking a season ago.
“Beau was great but I think we will be able to replace him,” Barth said. “We have more depth this year. We are going to be able to do more with tight ends. I’ve gotten better over the summer. (Redshirt freshman) Woody (Brandom) has gotten tremendously better. (Sophomore Connor Sullivan) Sully understands the offense and (sophomore) Curtis (Amos) is getting better. It’s not just going to be one guy this year, there’s going to be four guys and four is better than one.”
Although Sandland led all Big Sky tight ends with 37 catches, 632 yards and nine touchdowns, many would argue Sandland did not get enough chances for a man of his talent and skill. Against Cal Poly, Sandland caught five passes for 156 yards, including touchdowns of 63 and 13 yards. Against Montana, he caught seven passes for 163 yards and touchdowns of 46 and 22 yards. Sandland had more receiving yards in those two games (319) than MSU’s other nine contests combine (316).
“I think there was times where we could’ve done a little more last year with the tight end and even the year before that,” Barth said. “I think they will use us a lot this year and it’s going to show. We have to make plays to keep that going and the more plays we make, the more chances we will get.”
The increased utilization will start with Barth, who is up over 260 pounds on his 6-foot-6 frame. Barth has 16 catches for 134 yards in his career with 14 of the grabs coming last season. That number is sure to increase now that he’s finally the No. 1 tight end for a team that has produced either a first or second-team All-Big Sky selection at the position all but one of the last six seasons.
“He’s the biggest of them so he as a little more junk in the trunk to bring it,” said first year tight ends coach B.J. Robertson said. “Just his length, he is a long son of a gun. Blocking on the edge, he can get his arms locked out on those guys and opponents will have a tough time with that.”
If Montana State’s off-season showings are any indication, Barth is correct: MSU’s tight ends will have an increased role. During the Triangle Classic spring game in Great Falls, Barth used his big body to gash the Bobcat defense over the middle and his sneaky athleticism to snare a leaping touchdown on an accurate pass from junior quarterback Tyler Bruggman. Sullivan, a 6-foot-4, 250-pounder out of Ennis, had a catch over the middle as did Amos, a 6-foot, 220-pounder out of Burleson, Texas. Brandom, a 6-foot-4, 224-pound former three-star recruit out of Santiago High in Corona, California, caught two long touchdowns in the Electric City.
During Friday’s scrimmage at Bobcat Stadium, Barth had a nice catch over the middle for a first down. Montana State’s power run offense will feature an array of play-action passes and quarterback roll outs with the tight ends as primary targets.
“The tight ends are going to have a huge role and it’s a very, very good group,” said first-year head coach Jeff Choate, who will lead MSU against Idaho on September 1.
“That’s one of our deeper positions. Austin is up to 260 pounds. He can be an in-line guy. He can flex. I think he’s a really good leader, smart kid, tough kid. I think he’s going to be really productive. I think we are going to use multiple tight end packages at times because we are going to have to get some of these other guys on the field.”
Brandom and Amos both battled injuries during Montana State’s recently completed fall camp. Sullivan has turned heads after transitioning from wide receiver in the spring. He has taken an array of reps with the first-team offense, particularly in two tight end sets. His blend of speed and agility is a nice contrast to Barth’s physicality and grit, Choate said.
“Conner Sullivan might pound for pound be one of the better athletes on our roster,” Choate said. “Is he going to embrace the style we want to play? That’s what will be what separates him and takes him to the next level. He’s up over 250 pounds right now so he looks totally different than when he was trying to keep his weight down so he could play in the slot.”
Tight ends coach B.J. Robertson said Barth’s teaching has been a key in Sullivan’s transition to his new position.
“I can’t say enough about Barth’s mentorship and the PRPs (player run practices) the players ran,” Robertson said. “They came in above where they left off in spring ball. That was exciting. For Connor, it’s just reps, getting the repetition because he’s plenty athletic enough.”
The task of replacing an NFL Draft pick is far from easy no matter the pieces a team has in place. Yet Messingham’s offense is sure to cater to open holes for MSU’s tight ends to find throughout the season if the Bobcats are able to keep defenses on their heels with their rushing attack.
“The depth we have at tight end is going to help so much,” Barth said. “We have so much versatility with Sully coming from receiver. I feel like I can get those big-man throws where they just throw it into the body. Sully can stretch it. We have so much versatility there, we have a chance to do everything this year.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
